Review

Review Date: 12-January-03
Spoiler Rating: Medium
Juju Judgment: Juicy

About Schmidt (2002)

While I think that New Line's marketing of "About Schmidt" as a satirical comedy is inaccurate, I can understand why it is taking this approach: first, director Alexander Payne came to the fore with his darkly funny "Election" and is now thought of as a wit; and second, "About Schmidt" defies simple categorization, being slower and more true to life than most movies made today. I was surprised to discover that what I thought I paid for was not what I received, but pleasantly so. "About Schmidt" is in fact a daring, thoughtful, bittersweet little salute to the futility of the average life, and to the thin threads which keep us hanging onto it.

I can say without risk of being proven wrong that Jack Nicholson is about to get a historic 12th Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Warren Schmidt, the kind of unassuming, respectable, middle-class man you can find in towns all across America (and probably with heightened frequency around Omaha, Nebraska, the setting here). The movie begins with Schmidt's well earned retirement from an insurance company and subsequent recognition of his own obsolescence. Sure, he and his bland, equally respectable wife of 42 years (June Squibb) have the Winnebago ready to hit the road like any couple would in their position, but Schmidt begins to feel that none of it makes any difference. What is the point of his life? What has he accomplished? And what, if anything, does he have to look forward to? While these questions must inevitably trouble the mind of everybody at some point, they are rarely addressed in movies, and certainly not with as much simplicity, honesty, and, yes, even humor as Payne and Nicholson deliver.

After his loneliness and sense of futility reach a peak, Schmidt decides to focus his energies and hopes on his only child, Jeannie (Hope Davis), who is about to marry a waterbed salesman in Denver (Dermot Mulroney) whom Schmidt thinks is a poor match for his daughter. This sets up a road trip — that most hallowed rite for people who need to find themselves — and leads to the film's most overtly comic scenes involving the groom's strange family, led by a randy bohemian matriarch played with remarkable audacity by Kathy Bates. The story takes its time to unravel, however, and never strays far from the plausible (though a few instances of product placement seemed a little contrived). Like most people, Schmidt is not about to break out of years of habit and become something he never was. But in its quiet, truthful way, "About Schmidt" still manages to be not only touching and sad, but also fascinating and somewhat hopeful. He may have missed some opportunities in the past, and he may not get what he wants in the future, but in the end, he has at least tried and succeeded in accomplishing something. This movie, like the brilliant "You Can Count On Me" from a couple years back, illustrates the power of a well written screenplay and attests to the fact that meaningful drama doesn't require violence, espionage, drugs, sex, or even biting satire.

Copyright © 2003 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.